(Seeing as a chat get-together has been unable to happen since... well... over a <s>year</s> TWO YEARS (it's changed since I was writing this up!) this is just gonna go on the forums. Also for those who do not know, this is a closed Philsys RP)

NOTE TO RPers: TONS OF READING AHEAD. You can skip ahead to near the bottom if you wanna avoid all this crap and get to posting

Overview:

PROLOGUE

Long ago, in the kingdom of Lokar, a young illusionist by the name of Valzar had come upon a very special book within the marketplace. A collector of sorts, the strange language and symbols written inside intrigued him, as he spent most of his coin to obtain it. Having spent many years learning to translate it, Valzar had come to learn that this book was the lost tome describing of the Eternals, an ancient evil with which the legends of old had once defeated, or so history stated these days. But as he read on, he learned many things that history did NOT mention, about Eternals who fought for the side of good, and paid with thier life for it, about many relics lost to time, about the war one arrogant Eternal had begun and lost...

Valzar could not pull himself away from the book. Why had no one bothered to translate it before? The knowledge held inside was astounding! Who would discard such a thing to some petty merchant? It was then a line of text caught Valzar's eye.

It was a spell of great power, one that described a way to regain the power of the Eternals should it become lost. It mentioned the use of many artifacts, scattered throughout the worlds of existance, that would be required to do such a thing. When an Eternal dies, it's energy is dispersed, but never truely disappears. The incantation here looked as though something an Eternal named Infinel would use to bring back those who had fallen, but the book also stated that this Infinel was the first to be destroyed by the arrogant opressor. With the amount of energy gone into the casting of such a incantation, any mortal who attempted it would be destroyed.

Valzar mused about finding a way to do this, thoughts of ultimate power to use as he saw fit dancing about his head, but figured this was far from his grasp. After all, he was but an illusionist, and an aging one at that. He closed the book for the day, and went out for a walk. Two hours into his usual journey is when HE came to him, a white-cloaked man wearing a pale, life-like mask. The man stated his name as Reuben, and that he was a seer. He claimed he forsaw great things in Valzar's future should he seek to claim the power the book describes, and knew just how he could obtain it. Valzar was skeptical at first, but Reuben told of more and more things one man should not normally know, eventually leading the middle-aged illusionist to ask him for what reason he would tell him all these things. The seer replied that Valzar's future had greatly interested him, and wished to see it come to pass.

Obviously distrustful of a 'local seer' he had never seen nor met, Valzar brushed him off and continued his walk. The thoughts refused to cease, however. The power of beings eternal, what could he do with such a thing? Save lives? Rule over them? CREATE them? The concept continues to push him, and the fact this seer knew of a way to make it possible drove Valzar to self-doubt. On his wa back to his home, the seer was waiting just where he had been previously. Must've "forsaw" I would come back to him, he thought to himself. He invited the seer into his home, and talked over what must be done, much to the seer's delight. What he heard did not please him. There was not enough time in a mortal's life, as he already concluded, to do what was required. Valzar would need some way to increase his longevity or lifespan first, and what the seer suggested made him grow pale. "You must gain the forbidden power of the Undead," the seer spoke, "the power you seek will make you the enemy of many civilizations who will wish to stop you. The visions tell me that only through the might of undeath will you master thier forces and take what destiny holds as rightfully yours." Valzar did not like the concept of being undead. Who does? Only madmen, he was sure, but the seer stated that upon gaining this power, he would be able to undo the wrongs he had done to obtain it. He could resurrect entire civilizations if need be. And thus, against his better judgement, Valzar began research on various dark arts and necromancy. As he made many enemies, so did he make many allies. Knowledge of his "threat" to Lokar became apparent when he finished what another Dark Lord had started, ending in turning all of Zy'Tul and it's citizens and creatures into undead. Fanatics, seeing him as the new Dark Lord of the age flocked to his side, while heroes came to end him. Valzar had taken many lives, and while he regretted it at first, it was slowly becoming all the more easier. The seer was always by his side, giving him instruction, and as he did, failure could not reach Valzar Du'Lac. The Kingdom of Loracia began employing psionists and seers of thier own, however, to combat his strange battle tactics. Once Valzar had learned where these men and women were being trained, he sent out forces to destroy them...

PART ONE

Alittle over 100 years after Valzar's reign began in Lokar, a boy named Reako arrived in Gaera. Apparently he had escaped from another location, far far away, that was under the attack of a powerful lich. He lived in fear for the first few months of his time in Gaera, before he considered himself safe. Over time Reako made friends with many people, even Hakaril, who had a general dislike for "mind speakers". Aside from the strangely consistant number of problems Gaera had, things were going well and he lived happily.

But it would not last.

Valzar found he could no longer access the world of Loracia, a current target of his, via arcane means. A Planar Seal of sorts was likely placed. His closest assistant, Reuben the Seer, mentioned to him of a technique that would allow dimensional travel with the proper mental fortitude, but only one man was known to have this ability, and he was considered dead by Valzar's hands. Regretable, as access to Loracia was crucial. The final two most important artifacts were known to be held there. The Seer mentioned that the man had a student, and that this student escaped the attack by use of the technique to reach otherworldly lands. Thus Valzar and his highest officers began personally searching for this world. In time, it was found, and the hunt for this student began.

Using his illusionary prowess from his previous life, Valzar was able to hide amongst the populace of every land except Doma, which held some strange resistance to his entry. Seeking out the source, Doma apparently had some kind of ancient defensive device against undead with hostile intentions hidden away in a northern mountain cavern. As unguarded as it was, Valzar figured it had been forgotten, and sent Faust, a spirit-possessed ice construct to claim and destroy the item. But Faust never returned. A month afterward, a group of travellers came upon Valzar's current abode. Seeing this as a good chance to use adventurers' interest for his own gain, he gave them lodging and food, and told them a story about a mysterious artifact in a cavern just to the west. Kilra, one of the travellers who was present at the time, showed interest in checking out this location, and Stephan, Enlil, Ayra, and Dan soon followed.

It did not take long for the adventurers to come upon Faust, apparently driven temporarily mad by the artifact's powers when he attempted to remove it. Enlil tried to talk with him, while everyone else defended themselves, but it was as if the orb had made Faust into a guardian of it's own, and his attacks did not cease until he self destructed. Enlil grabbed the orb, which gave no resistance to her, and as she did, the enchantments it powered began to fade. The party paid little mind to this, however, as they exited the cavern, only to be confronted by the "hermit" whom they had met not long ago. The hermit revealed himself to be a man named Valzar, and goaded Enlil into a frenzy, who lost control and unintentionally attacked her allies. In the confusion, Valzar claimed the orb, and vanished.

Only days afterward mysterious creatures had been seen roaming near Doma Castle, and rumors spread of a lich in the land. The guard was on alert, and the need for more magicly inclined guards was on the rise. Valzar had heard that Doma Castle's libraries were some of the best in the land, and sought to infiltrate the castle, appearing as a young mage named "Salith" who wished to apply for a job. Only the Captain of the Guard held suspicions towards the new recruit, and watched him closely, usually finding him in the library when not on guard duty. However, "Salith" appeared to have a true love for his job, and Captain Pervy's suspicions were slowly decreasing.

A month into Valzar's stay at the castle, he found the information and maps he needed. Reako had also frequented the library, and one day he dropped a slip of paper, musing about how one of the new guards at the castle was named Salith, his old mentor in Lokar. Valzar asked around about the boy, and soon learned where it was he lived. His mission complete, he decided he would have alittle "fun" before leaving the castle. The Captain prided himself on how well he defended the castle and trained his men. It would wound his pride to learn that the Lich everyone had heard about was under thier noses for days. Using an illusion spell he had saved up for this moment, he created a lifelike, cackling shadow demon which began running around the castle and throwing it in an uproar. Meanwhile, he entered the currently empty throne room, to prepare the finale for his little trick. The shadow lead the guards directly to it, where Valzar sat, clapping. Pervy was furious, and ordered his men to attack, but Valzar called forth two beholders who turned the lot of them to stone. He mocked the Captain one last time, before teleporting out of the location, leaving Crimson Death, his new Fire Spirit Construct, to test his battle capabilities on those who remain in the throne room. The battle was shortlived, however, as Queen Aya, Captain Pervy, and General Hakaril proved far too much for Crimson Death, powerful though he was. His pride hurt, Pervy wished for another shot at the lich, but knew not where to look.

PART TWO

Valzar began his journey to the shrine in which Reako lived immediately, Reuben following closely at his heels. When he arrived, he found much more resistance than expected, as a few other demihumans and a talented warlock also resided there. They had gained warning ahead of time of Valzar's coming, and attempted to hide the boy away so that he could escape. The Warlock stood against Valzar with bravery, but it was a losing battle. It was then that the real Salith arrived, who had been watching Reako closely for the past month, and the lich and the master psionist clashed forces. In the end, the defense still ended in failure, as Reuben had reached Reako, and extracted the memories of the technique he required from him. He and Valzar fled the scene immediately, running off to the barren northlands.

Salith took Reako and made haste to the Castle so that Reako could tell Captain Aliestar Pervus the full situation. While Valzar had mentioned he would bother the world of Gaera no longer after having gained what he wanted, "Pervy's" firebrand nature would not allow it. He would kick that lich's ass, mark his words, and he gathered acquiantences and adventurers to go with him on his airship into the northern lands. Thusly were the heroes of the Loracian War and Zy'Tul Seige gathered, Kyle the Fencer, Griff the Swordsman, Idran the Time Mage, and Kelne, a man of mystery. Due to the rarity of airship technology, it never occured to him that Valzar would also have one of his own, and he figured he would overtake the lich and attack him from the air.

As they neared the location Salith specified, a fierce, unnatural storm began to blow. The psionist protected the crew from the dangers of the weather, but it soon became apparent they weren't alone. Zombie dragons rushed out of the violent skies and attacked the ship, much to the surprise of it's inhabitants. Through quick action, they were slain, but the battle was hardly over. Flying out from behind a nearby mountain peak was the 'Death Dealer', an airship wrought from flesh, bone, and wood. Pervy called everyone to thier battle stations, and the epic battle over the skies of Gaera began. Try as he might, the Captain could not keep his ship in the air, as the DeathDealer revealed long clawlike appendages which then grabbed his beloved ship and tore into it. In a last ditch effort, the cannons were loaded with all they could carry, and blasted the abomination at point-blank range. Both ships went down, the snowy surface of the valley below them cushioning thier fall. The party was not allowed a moment's peace, however, as Darkfeather, the Death Dealer's controller and captain, attacked them. She nearly shredded the party, were it not for Idran's idea to try and slow her down with gravity magic. Victory was thiers, and the portal to Loracia stood before them. Not knowing what would await them there, the party rushed after Valzar. Soon they would have the journey of thier lives.

PART THREE

Not long after thier entry, they were assaulted by a group of demihumans closely resembling Reako's race. At first, they were accused of being collaborators of the lich, but the nation's seer, Sharila, examined them closely, and deemed this not to be true. Having learned they were in fact TAILING the lich, seeking to destroy him, the captain of the guard Kahn led them to Castle Lorance, on a ride fit for kings (although not according to Captain Pervy, who hated Chocobos). After a luxurious dinner, and becoming acquainted with the royalty, strategies were discussed. Pervy and Kahn's views clashed fiercely, but upon meeting thier chosen guide, Marse, Pervy calmed down and was reassured. Given the proper funds to supply thier coming journey, the party milled about town, checking out the sights and shops. Idran marveled at the strong attunement to magic this race and world had, while Kyle was enamored with various other trinkets that were thier specialty. Griff, Pervy, and Kelne went straight to business seeking out blacksmiths and potionmasters for thier own supplies.

Meanwhile, Valzar was busying himself with attempted negotiations with the Mindflayers of the Underwood Lake for a specific relic of thiers. Needless to say, they proved fruitless, and combat broke out. However, most of the Mindflayers' psychic abilities were unable to harm the undead, and Valzar's contingent of necromancers and followers showed ot have the upper hand in the magical field as well. With each of thier bretheran that fell, it rose once more, serving the lich and bent on destruction. If he could not obtain the relic peacefully, he would take it by force...

Later the next day, the party set forth into the Underwood (being told many unnerving stories by the townfolk and Marse along the way). The forest was an accursed, illusion-filled location, turning would-be invaders around and into traps. Marse managed to navigate the forest, however, and they came upon a scene that was not comforting in the least. A group of eight to ten mindflayers, thier bodies destroyed in various manners. It was clear Valzar had no intent of allying with the Mindflayers, or so it appeared. After a few more tricks and turns, the group arrived at Underwood Lake, which was completely frozen, an tunnel borred through the ice towards a cavern. It was then that Faust and Crimson appeared behind them, Faust quickly sealing the way out via altering the Mindflayer's protective magic, Crimson raising two fallen Mindflayers from the dead to attack the party. Faust walled them in with ice, and summoned forth a lesser ice golem to provide a distraction. The party dispatched this encounter with ease... perhaps alittle too MUCH ease. Kelne and Griff saw fit to mock the mage constructs, with which Crimson's reply was to animate ALL the Mindflayer corpses within the vicinity. Faced with 50 to 5, the party had no choice but to flee into the cavern, Pervy firing off a spell to seal the entrance and perhaps catch up to Valzar without the duo's interferance.

It had become Do or Die time. There was no visable way out, and undoubtably many horrors lied in wait in the darkness. Still, the party pressed onwards. At the second junction, a group of undead and still living Mindflayers were fighting amongst eachother. Perhaps it was not too late? Whatever it was Valzar sought, the Mindflayers were still resisting his advance. Idran attempted to speak with the flayers after thier victory of the undead, but they would not listen and attacked. Everyone within the labyrinth were enemies... it was quite unsettling. Having no map, they explored based on instinct, and found the flayer's prison. A prisoner was still alive in a cell, a female soldier of the Loracian Army. While Marse worked to free the poor lass, Crimson Death caught up. Upset at the party's previous escape, he animated the many animal bones (mostly rabbits) strewn about the prison hall, and sent them to alarm others of the party's presance. That complete, the mass of bones combined together to form a nasty, tentacled ball-like abomination. Once the prisoner was freed, Marse and the soldier joined the fray, dispatching the creature.

The soldier revealed herself to be a spy and informant, who was captured on the job. The Mindflayers kept her rather than killing her to later extract her memories as to the purpose of her invasion. With her knowledge of most of the labyrinth's layout, the party found the main chamber... but many once-open doors were now sealed with many runes. Pervy and Idran worked together to dispell the runes, but it still hindered thier progress by an hour. The fact no attacks occured during this was more disturbing than it was comforting. The Mindflayers were losing... At last, finally reaching the ritual chamber of the labyrinth, the party found the last of the Mindflayer resistance standing against Valzar himself, Faust, Darkfeather, and Crimson Death at his side. They did not go unnoticed. Valzar motioned to Darkfeather and Crimson to dispatch the party. They fought valiantly, but Pervy was unable to prevent the Pyrowizard from casting a very lengthy, powerful spell. The entire hall errupted with fire, strong enough to turn the rock molten, and thier weapons not packed away, flimsy and ruined. Crimson laughed at thier failure, and left them for dead. Before Darkfeather could "make sure", she was called away by Valzar for urgent business. Something unexpected had gotten in thier way...

Barely holding onto conciousness, Kyle managed to stand on his feet. The party dying, he acted quickly and used the powerful potion 'Elixirs' they were given to rouse those he could. Pervy mended what wounds the potions could not, Griff cursed at the ruination of one of his blades, and Kelne swore to remember fire protection enchantments in the future. Disheartened, but refusing to give up, the party gave chase, replacing what weapons and supplies they could from the Mindflayer treasure holds. In the final chamber was a stunning sight. The whole cavern shined with many vibrant colors, light reflecting off an underground lake at it's center. Standing atop a hovering platform was the leader of the Mindflayers, using some kind of artifact to power his spells beyond most's imagination. After trading a few blows with Valzar's servants, the patriarch summoned forth what he claimed to be thier god. A gigantic squid-monster named Kraken. It was so large that the party was forced to join in the fray WITH Valzar, riding atop Kelne's flying carpet and firing spells from a distance to defend themselves. The strain of the battle used up so much of Darkfeather and Crimson's mana energies that thier constructed bodies faded into apparations. Faust was doing his best to freeze the monster in place, while the party rained death from above.

Victory was had, the patriarch and monster slain... the party saw this as the perfect time to strike at thier quarry. After all, the lich was forced into dealing with the brunt of the attack. Instead of being met with malice, they instead recieved congradulation. Valzar was impressed by thier tenacity, but questioned thier reasoning for following him. After all, his business was no longer with thier world. Before they could give a proper answer, Valzar touched the adamantium dias on which the mindflayer stood, chanted a spell, and they found themselves outside of the woods.

PART FILL IN LATER

There's still alot more to the story, but I can post that later. Typing this up is taking too long, and probably is a sucky read full of "and" "however" "clearly" etc but whatever. I'll add the rest of the current story when I have time for it. FOR NOW. I hope you guys remember where we currently are somehow. After like 2 years. Of complete inactivity. Well, if not, just IM me and I'll fill you in. LET THE FINALE FINALLY BEGIN, FINALLY.

Kelne was, to put it mildly, growing rather tired of the whole situation. Valzar's goons were all too effective at delaying them one way or another. Witness the fact that they'd just cut their way through one of Faust's ice walls, only to be confronted by another. And doubtless there would be others beyond that.

Time to assess their options. They could either follow in Faust's wake, spending precious time burning their way through an endless succession of walls, with no guarrantee they were even being led in the right direction, or they could take their chances by striking out on a tangent.

Put like that, it wasn't much of a choice at all.

Having made his decision, Kelne addressed the rather ecclectic group behind him, "I expect we'll be splitting up here. I'm going to try and get ahead of Faust rather than follow him wherever he likes, so I'll be going this way." He waved his free hand towards the empty passageway, "I don't suppose anyone has much idea of the layout of the tower?"

From what could be seen, one direction led off in a straight direction towards the center of the citadel, leading to the grand tower... however not far in that direction Faust's hastily made icewalls began. Idran had already attempted to phase through one and catch Faust early; a surprised holler from him issued the attempt to be a failure. Arlim quickly burned down the wall to find Idran, feet firmly frozen to the ground.

After helping Idran out, both ways were inspected. The main hall lead to more ice walls. To the left, a set of stairs. Whether or not the direction Faust went was a ruse was yet to be seen.

Arlim and his tall dark-clothed ninja companion turned to the rest of the group.

"Unfortunately, Kelne, not many spies or associates came this far that would return."

Arlim takes a quick glance at both directions and brings a hand to his chin in thought.

"I don't think I have to explain why we don't have time for this. We could either split up, or muster all our fire power to get past these walls as quickly as possible. What are your thoughts?"

"Well, it's fairly obvious that he's trying to herd us up the stairs, or he would have sealed both entrances to get us to waste time breaking through both. Whether that means we should go up the stairs or not, though, I'm not sure."

"I'm certain of this much. If we stick together, he will stay ahead of us. He knows the tower, we don't. And as long as he's ahead of us, we have to deal with all the nasty little surprises he can come up with. I have no doubt we can, but it'll take time which we may not have."

"If we split up, however, he either has to divide his attention, or focus on stopping one group and leave the other unmolested. Either way, progress is potentially much faster for at least some of us."